--- title: Star Trek at 50: See Images From Long-Buried Pilot Episode description: The original first episode wasn't aired during the series' first run—and for good reason: many of the characters were totally different canonical: https://time.com/4480743/star-trek-pilot-gallery/ author: Kenneth Bachor article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-07T21:58:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:57.705Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: See the Trippy Look of the Long-Buried Original 'Star Trek' Pilot og:description: Where's Captain Kirk? og:url: https://time.com/4480743/star-trek-pilot-gallery/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93fc0957f2bccf84/6988a4f6cd1bba44b6702366/star-trek-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: star-trek-facebook og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See the Trippy Look of the Long-Buried Original 'Star Trek' Pilot twitter:description: Where's Captain Kirk? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93fc0957f2bccf84/6988a4f6cd1bba44b6702366/star-trek-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See the Trippy Look of the Long-Buried Original _Star Trek_ Pilot > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: 5 Things You Didn't Know About 'Star Trek' [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Things You Didn't Know About 'Star Trek'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1PAAHe7W.m3u8) (1:27)  _Published 2016-09-07. One of the most popular and influential television shows from the 1960s is the original 'Star Trek' series, here's what you didn't know about it._ by [Kenneth Bachor](https://time.com/author/kenneth-bachor/) ## Kenneth Bachor Sep 7, 2016 9:58 PM UTC  CBS/Getty Images by [Kenneth Bachor](https://time.com/author/kenneth-bachor/) ## Kenneth Bachor Sep 7, 2016 9:58 PM UTC Though _Star Trek_ celebrates its 50th anniversary on Thursday—the first episode to air on TV ran on Sept. 8, 1966—the show’s actual first episode is a bit older than that. [The original pilot episode](http://time.com/4406710/star-trek-history-excerpt/) of _Star Trek_, titled “The Cage,” was completed in early 1965\. As these stills from the episode show, it exhibits both striking similarities with and a number of differences from the series that ended up on television. Most noticeably, the Captain of the USS _Enterprise_ was [Christopher Pike](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0001552/), portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter, instead of James Kirk. Hunter backed out of the show to pursue acting in films and passed away in 1969\. And, though Mr. Spock was [still portrayed by Leonard Nimoy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059753/) in the pilot, he was not the First Officer—that title went to a character known as Number One, portrayed by Majel Barrett. Concerning props, weapons in the pilot were referred to as “lasers,” and not [“phasers.”](http://gizmodo.com/5978482/why-star-trek-phasers-dont-exist-yet) Written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler, the pilot was dismissed by NBC, [where executives called it](https://books.google.com/books?id=Vx3BBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT26&dq=too+cerebral+star+trek+the+cage&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSrLDSxvvOAhWIWCYKHWgEBx0Q6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=too%20cerebral%20star%20trek%20the%20cage&f=false) “too cerebral.” After being [persuaded by Lucille Ball](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/07/08/lucille-ball-star-trek), whose Desilu Studios produced the pilot, the network ordered a second pilot episode. The original, which cost NBC [over $600,000 to produce](http://www.startrek.com/article/the-cage-started-50-years-ago-today), was scrapped, except for some footage that was incorporated into a later episode. Shooting started for the second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” in July 1965\. This episode was the first to feature William Shatner as Captain James Kirk. It eventually aired on Sept. 22, 1966 as part of the show’s first season. (A different episode, “[The Man Trap](http://time.com/3269295/star-trek-1966/),” was selected as the premiere.) [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) “The Cage” was finally released on VHS in 1986 and aired on television in color in November 1988, with an introduction by Gene Roddenberry, as part of a [two-hour _Star Trek_ retrospective special](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-trek-flashback-leonard-nimoy-753659) hosted by Patrick Stewart.  From left: Susan Oliver as Vina, Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike and Meg Wyllie as The Keeper in "The Cage." CBS/Getty Images  Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock and Peter Duryea as Lieutenant José Tyler on the planet Talos IV. CBS/Getty Images  Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike. CBS/Getty Images  Susan Oliver as Vina and Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike have an illusory picnic outside Mojave, Kirk's home. CBS/Getty Images  Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock and Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike on the planet Talos IV. CBS/Getty Images  The crew on the bridge of the USS Enterprise. CBS/Getty Images  Michael Dugan as the Kalar warrior on Rigel VII. CBS/Getty Images  From left: Anthony Jochim as Third Survivor, Leonard Mudie as Second Survivor and other survivors on the planet Talos IV. CBS/Getty Images  Crew members in the transport room of the USS Enterprise. CBS/Getty Images  Susan Oliver as Vina appearing as an Orion slave girl. CBS/Getty Images  John Hoyt as Dr. Phillip Boyce and Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock. CBS/Getty Images  The crew of the USS Enterprise being transported. From left: Peter Duryea as Lieutenant José Tyler, Adam Roarke as Communications Officer Garison, Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike, John Hoyt as Dr. Phillip Boyce, Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock and Ed Madden as the Enterprise Geologist. CBS/Getty Images  Janos Prohaska as the Anthropoid Ape. CBS/Getty Images  Laurel Goodwin as Yeoman J. M. Colt and Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike. CBS/Getty Images  Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike and Susan Oliver as Vina at Rigel VII, in the Kandari sector. 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